Cooking in Ghost of Yotei is an optional side activity Atsu can partake in. It comes with some excellent incentives to encourage players to engage with the system, especially at higher difficulties.
This guide covers how to start cooking in the game, the benefits it provides, as well as where to locate the food items required for the process. Here’s the breakdown.
How to Cook in Ghost of Yotei
Atsu can cook fish or mushrooms at a camp in Ghost of Yotei. Press and hold left on the D-Pad while standing next to your horse or while riding it to set up a personal camp or rest at an established Ainu camp.
When resting at a camp, select the cooking basket next to the fire and press X to bring up the ingredients menu. Choose which food you want to make and press X again to start the cooking animation.
Tilt your PS5 DualSense Controller down to have Atsu bring the food closer to the fire. Press O to flip the food over the flames to get an even roast. Once the process is complete, you’ll automatically exit first-person mode, and Atsu will receive the appropriate food buff immediately.
The “Quick Camp” option under Options > Gameplay can be toggled ON to automate the cooking process.
Cooking Ingredients in Ghost of Yotei
There are only two cooking ingredients in Ghost of Yotei: fish and mushrooms. When eaten, all food provides a day-long buff to Atsu:
- Fish: Grants bonus spirit and a random major perk for a full in-game day.
- Mushroom: Grants bonus spirit and a random minor perk for a full in-game day.
The perks can be defensive, offensive, or utility in nature, and are randomized every time. Any active perks are displayed in the top left corner on the gear screen, including their effects.
Bonus spirit is represented by a green icon with a white border above Atsu’s health bar. The white border also serves as a timing indicator for how much time is left before the food buff runs out.
Atsu can only eat if she’s hungry, which means you cannot stack food buffs or eat multiple food items on the same day.
How to Get Fish and Mushrooms in Ghost of Yotei
Both fish and mushrooms are overworld items that can be picked up if you chance upon them, similar to bamboo and flowers.
- Fish can be found in wooden fishing traps found in rivers and other bodies of water (pictured above).
- Mushrooms can be found on overturned logs, damp locations like swamps or rivers, or under heavy shade.
Certain vendors like the Ainu sell food items in exchange for copper (these are not sold for coin). The merchants typically have limited stock which gets refreshed over time.

- Released
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October 2, 2025
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Language, Partial Nudity, Use of Alcohol
- Publisher(s)
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Sony Interactive Entertainment